Az-Zukhruf · Makki · ayah 65 of 89

Az-Zukhruf 43:65

فَٱخْتَلَفَ ٱلْأَحْزَابُ مِنۢ بَيْنِهِمْ ۖ فَوَيْلٌ لِّلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا۟ مِنْ عَذَابِ يَوْمٍ أَلِيمٍ

“But the denominations from among them differed [and separated], so woe to those who have wronged from the punishment of a painful Day.”

Saheeh International

Essence

After the clearest possible sentence, those who heard it split into factions; the wrong lay in putting a creature where only the Creator belongs.

A reflection

Division after clarity

The previous ayah could not have been plainer. ʿĪsā said: Allah, He, is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him; this is a straight path. Then comes this ayah's first word: fa-khtalafa. And so they differed.

The little fa, 'and so', is heavy here. It places the disagreement immediately after the clarity, as though in answer to it.

One major early commentator explains who differed, and why it is striking. Those to whom ʿĪsā called differed over him, he says, despite his having made his own status clear to them. He describes the factions as people of differing desires, mukhtalifī al-ahwāʾ.

That phrase locates the problem precisely. The evidence was not unclear. The wants were divided.

Min baynihim, from among themselves, adds another note. The split did not come from outside, from an enemy or a persecutor. It came from inside the circle that had heard him.

Picture a family gathered after a grandfather's funeral for the reading of his letter. He had written, in plain words, that the house should be sold and the money shared equally. Everyone hears it read aloud. By the end of the evening there are three camps. One says he did not mean the garden. One says he was not himself when he wrote it. One says nothing and books a solicitor. The letter has not changed. The listeners have.

This is a sober truth about human beings, and the Quran does not flatter us about it. Clear words do not guarantee agreement. They guarantee that disagreement, when it comes, will be about something other than the words.

The question this ayah leaves with every reader is uncomfortable. Where have I heard something clear from Allah, and found a reason to read it as I wished? The factions around ʿĪsā are not only a story about others. They are a pattern any heart can fall into.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.